A closing dressing bolster and assembly for use with a system for treating a linear wound on a patient includes a bolster body formed from a flexible closing bolster material having closing members that are operable to develop an inward closing force when the closing dressing bolster is placed under reduced pressure. In one aspect, when the closing dressing bolster is under reduced pressure, the system, dressing, or assembly develops an inward force realized at the linear wound and a compression force. A wicking-material holder and wicking material may be used as well. The member components may all be see-through to allow visual inspection of the wound without requiring removal of the dressing.

A guard, fabricated from a water-resistant, lightweight, nonwoven, antimicrobial fabric, is constructed to be worn by a user for protecting a closed, post-operative sternal incision against exposure to water during bathing and showering. The guard avoids the need for manually holding a protective cover over the incision, and thereby frees the arms and hands of the user, or of a caregiver, for washing, lathering and rinsing.

A medical surgical wound support device comprising a flexible support garment designed to be worn by a patient, the flexible support garment having an inner surface that comes in direct contact with the patient and an outer surface facing outward from the patient, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded within the flexible support garment, each of which is oriented such that its north magnetic pole faces the outer surface, a rigid base component, that has an outer surface facing upward from a support on which the rigid support structure rests, a plurality of permanent magnets embedded within the outer surface of the rigid base component, each embedded magnet oriented such that the north magnetic pole faces the outer surface; and a repelling magnetic force originating from the outer surface of the flexible support garment and the outer surface of the rigid base component such that a portion of the patient wearing the flexible support garment is elevated a controllable distance above the rigid base component.

A gown dispenser system has a plurality of gowns, each having a back region, the gowns folded and stacked back region facing up, such that, pulling on the back region of a gown on top of the stack removes that gown from the stack and exposes the back region of the next gown in the stack, an enclosure containing the stack of gowns, the enclosure having an opening exposing the back region of the gown at the top of the stack, enabling a user to grasp the exposed back region and pull the topmost gown from the enclosure, exposing the next gown in the stack. Gowns are drawn from the enclosure one-at-a-time, at need.

Mechanisms for dispensing items such as medications and medical supplies. Different mechanisms may be tailored to dispensing different kinds of items, for example medications in single dose packages, vials, syringes, or other similarly-shaped items. The dispensers may be placed in a dispensing unit that includes a lockable restock drawer and a dispense drawer into which items are dispensed by the dispensing mechanisms. The various kinds of dispensing mechanisms may be installed in the restock drawer in any workable proportion and arrangement. The dispensing mechanisms include multiple sensing technologies for tracking and inventory of items and for accurate sensing of items as they are dispensed.

An adhesive bandage is provided which has at least four arms instead of standard two where two of which being of a different length than other two to resist its removal from skin by a baby. The adhesive bandage includes a first and a second bandage arms and a third and a fourth bandage arms. The first and second bandage arms are transverse to the third and fourth bandage arms. The first and second bandage arms are longer in length to the third and fourth bandage arms. The adhesive bandage further includes a medicated pad at an intersection of the first and second bandage arms and the third and fourth bandage arms. In one embodiment, the new bandage includes an adhesive strip and a clip such that the adhesive strip is looped through the clip. In another embodiment, the new bandage includes an adhesive strip and a Velcro strap such that the adhesive strip is looped through the Velcro strap.

A barrier system is provided for use in reducing infections associated with post-operative surgical incision and/or a percutaneous medical device, such as a catheter, that is disposed within the surgical incision. Such a barrier system may include: a barrier device having a skin-contacting surface and a catheter-receiving surface; and an adhesive composition configured for adhering to skin, the barrier device, and/or the catheter so as to form a barrier at or adjacent to an incision in the skin where the catheter is percutaneously inserted through the skin. A tensioning anchor and associated system of two or more tensioning anchors is provided for post-operative wound closure. A method for applying and removing the barrier device and tensioning anchors is also provided.

A wound dressing for use in the application of negative pressure to a wound, comprising a support member and a cover member positionable over the wound in use. The support member can have a first support element having a first portion aligned with a first axis and a body portion coupled with and extending away from the first portion, and a second support element having a first portion aligned with the first axis and a body portion coupled with and extending away from the first portion of the second support element. At least the body portion of each of the first support element and the second support element can be independently rotatable about the first axis. The support member can support at least a middle portion of the cover member above a surface of the wound so as to define a space between the wound cover and the wound.

A super-absorbent dressing assembly for use with a reduced-pressure wound treatment system includes a breathable, fluid restricted dry layer for placement against a wound, a super-absorbent layer, and a non-breathable layer, and a drape extending over the non-breathable layer. A reduced-pressure interface is available to fluidly couple the super-absorbent layer to a reduced-pressure subsystem. The super-absorbent dressing assembly preferably supplies a compressive force when placed under reduced pressure. A reduced-pressure treatment system uses a super-absorbent bolster to treat wounds, e.g., linear wounds.

A surgical pin compression wound dressing stabilizing system includes a compressive wound dressing module having a central orifice and radial slit, and a stabilizing device having a longitudinal passageway and a vertical slit, the slits allowing insertion of the module and stabilizing device on a surgical pin at a wound site with the surgical pin dispose in the orifice and passageway. The stabilizing device has an upright post with the longitudinal passageway and a bottom base with a recessed central cavity open at a bottom that receives and mates with an upper portion of the module. The bottom base has a lower outer annular surface surrounding the central cavity for engaging a peripheral rib on the module to enable application of an equal distribution of a downward compressive pressure on the module.